INRIX Transforms Traffic News Reporting with Breakthrough Apps

LONDON, Jan. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- INRIX announced the availability of a turn-key set of applications for media that deliver traffic and travel news in less time and significantly lower cost than traditional methods.

The INRIX Digital Media Suite provides reporters with a set of easy to use tools and traffic information content that goes beyond typical drive-time traffic conditions to help drivers avoid frustrating delays with unique insight into traffic conditions on all major motorways and local roads including the day's current and expected traffic hotspots and travel times for key routes.

"This opens up a whole new market for traffic reporting," said Nick Simmons, Vice President and General Manager of Media, INRIX. "For the first time, local media have access to turnkey, professional services that deliver valuable traffic insight and inventory with just a few clicks."

The INRIX Digital Media Suite consists of a radio and TV application offering journalists, robust yet simple to use "drag and drop" traffic report creation and editing tools. By reducing the time taken to gather traffic information, breaking travel news can be broadcast in a matter of minutes. Through intuitive web-based user interfaces, the INRIX TV and Radio Apps eliminates the time journalists spend scouring multiple sites offering them a complete picture of traffic conditions for their broadcasts that includes traffic speeds and travel times, detailed real-time traffic maps, alerts to delays caused by accidents and other incidents as well as eyewitness reports from the station's Twitter and Facebook community. Unlike legacy traffic systems requiring stations to buy expensive hardware that is extremely difficult to scale, INRIX TV and INRIX Radio can be activated immediately and scaled to connect with other devices, production facilities or desired coverage areas.

Specific INRIX Radio and INRIX TV App features includes:

INRIX Radio: Designed exclusively for the radio broadcast industry, INRIX Radio is a Software-As-A-Service (SaaS) based platform that intelligently integrates both traffic incident and cause data to enable the production of customised traffic news stories for radio broadcasts. Once a station has an activate INRIX Radio license, anyone at the news outlet with a Web browser can use the tool to create traffic reports in real-time. The App's intuitive script-generation tool offers the ability to view traffic over three live panels on one screen, view live incident updates and filter incidents according to preference. This dynamic approach, combined with the drag and drop interface allows for easy reordering and tweaking as needed up until broadcast. INRIX Radio is available immediately in North America and Europe. Broadcasters can activate a free 30-day trial at www.INRIX.com/RadioTrial.

INRIX TV: The only traffic reporting app designed exclusively for television news, INRIX TV is a news gathering and reporting tool that connects to any playout system to create visually compelling and highly accurate traffic news reports. Whether reporting from the studio or the scene of a major incident, INRIX TV provides reporters with immediate insight into not just what drivers can expect on the daily commute but the traffic impacts of a major storm, accident or sporting event. The app makes delivering the day's traffic news as easy as creating an iMovie film – once reporters have built a report template within INRIX TV, content automatically populates, enabling them to create reports in a matter of minutes. The app includes direct output capabilities to mixing desks, as well as social components that help integrate eyewitness reports via social media directly into news broadcasts. Initially available in the U.S., U.K. and Canada via the Apple App Store, the company will launch the INRIX TV app in April at the NAB Show in Las Vegas, NV.

One Source for the Best Traffic Information Available

INRIX Digital Media Suite Apps are powered by traffic information content sourced from the INRIX Traffic Intelligence Platform uniquely analysing real-time insight from hundreds of sources ranging from government road sensors, official accident and incident reports to real-time traffic speeds from a crowd-sourced community of approximately 100 million drivers, INRIX provides reporters with in-depth coverage of traffic conditions that extends beyond motorways to city streets and other heavily travelled local roads. Analysis of commonly known traffic-impacting factors, including current traffic conditions, weekday, season, holidays and related days, current and forecasted weather, accidents and road construction help ensure media provide their audience with time-saving insight they can rely on every day(1).

INRIX Radio and INRIX TV joins the company's existing set of services for broadcasters that includes traffic flow and incident services. INRIX will demonstrate the INRIX Digital Media Suite at Le Radio in Paris, Radio Days Europe in Berlin and NAB 2013 in Las Vegas. For more information, go to www.inrix.com/media.

About INRIX

INRIX® is a leading traffic intelligence platform delivering smart data and advanced analytics to solve transportation issues worldwide. INRIX crowd sources real-time data from approximately 100 million vehicles and devices to deliver traffic and driving-related insight, as well as sophisticated analytical tools and services, across five industries in 32 countries.